Teens: Workshop helps keep perspective; kids ditch Facebook (links)

View full sizeIf you've got a teen, chances are your teen has a cellphone. And he probably wants to be on it way more than you'd like. Is conflict over rules and limits on technology an unavoidable part of parenting these days? The Associated Press

Parenting's not an easy job, and it seems to only get more complicated as kids turn into teens. Conflict over limits and rules, use of technology, risky behavior and more seems inevitable.

Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy hopes to help parents of 10- to 18-year-olds navigate those issues and more with "Keeping Perspective and Staying Connected," a workshop 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday at Legacy Meridian Park Hospital in Tualatin.

Howard Hiton, a local therapist and author, will lead the workshop, which emphasizes ways to keep your perspective and stay connected with your teen so you can help guide behavior. Cost is $75, and you must register in advance at the Legacy website.

Facebook, once popular with teens and a mystery to adults, now suffers from an exodus of young people because the older crowd has found it. CNET takes a look at where they're going, and why. Parents might not find it reassuring, especially the part about Snapchat.

Technology can be put to good use when it comes to teens -- or, at least that's the theory behind a new campaign in New York that uses social media and extremely stark ads to educate about the harsh realities of teen pregnancy. Government Technology shows one ad with the message "Are you ready to raise a child by yourself? 90 percent of teen parents don't marry each other."

For families worrying about how to pay for college (or even how to pay just for the college textbooks), this next item may be hard to fathom. The Wall Street Journal takes us inside the world of college students using concierge services (at $300 a month or more) to do things like find mariachi bands for a party they're throwing. So much for living on Top Ramen and running home to do laundry because you don't have enough quarters.

Finally, to offset that last one, here's a look at a study hinting that volunteering does teens' hearts good. Literally. Womenshealth.gov reports.